Say Anything | Steve Harrington |

Ch. 2 Missing

November 7th, 1983
Hawkins High School

    Sitting awkwardly in the Principals office wasn't a first for me, though I am a good student with a clean record, it doesn't stop other students from pointing fingers in my direction when something wrong happens. Though this is the first time that I've let my nerves get the best of me.

   Once I had walked into the office of Principal Hawthorne, I was greeted with a tight-lipped smile and the back of the Chief of Police, Jim Hopper.

   "Ms. Byers sorry to pull you out of class so early in the morning but there seems to be an issue involving your brother." Mr. Hawthorne said while Hopper turned and lent me his hand to shake.

Slowly I grasped his hand and tried my best to return a smile. "Are we talking about Will or Jonathan?" I asked as I sat down in front of Hopper.

   "Will. I'm afraid, he didn't make it home last night. Your mother said that he was with you last night." Hopper spoke flatly with little emotion evident in his voice.

   Nodding, I toyed with the ring on my finger, a move that didn't go unnoticed by the Chief. "He and I were at the Wheeler's house last night. But he went home at around 8 and I stayed the night with my friend Nancy."

   "So you were the last person to see your brother?" Hopper asked pulling out a notepad and pencil. "Not exactly, he said he was going to ride home with his friend Dustin. Plus Mike was the last to talk to him from what I saw, maybe he told him he was going to stay at Dustin's." I spoke quickly trying to stay calm and keep my cool.

   "Why didn't you go home with him?" Hopper asked, staring me down as if trying to get me to confess some hidden secret. 

   "He didn't want me to, he doesn't like being babied." I said with a smile, slowly starting to become calm. "Don't you think it would have been safer though?" Hopper mumbled, writing in his pad, throwing me back into my guilt.

   "Who are Mike and Dustin?" He asked finally not looking back up at me. "Mike Wheeler and Dustin Henderson. His two friends at the middle school, just down the road." I said quietly, slowly feeling tears start to well up in my eyes.

   "Is this my fault?" I asked quietly, trying to keep my voice from breaking but failing in the process. Hopper looked up at me, his eyes softening slightly.

    He shook his head, "Don't put this on yourself, he's probably fine. Cases like these rarely ever end badly. If we don't get any leads, we'll set up some search parties. Find him in no time." I nodded and quickly rubbed the tears away from my eyes.

   "In the meantime, your Mom and Jonathan are outside to get you. I want you to try looking for him in places he might be familiar with or somewhere he might go to." I nodded again, standing from my seat and grabbing my bag. "Thanks, Chief." I mumbled and quickly made my way out of the office.

   Rapidly blinking the remaining tears away from my eyes, I ran into a figure that was hurriedly heading in the opposite direction. "Hey, watch it- Byers?"

I looked down at the pristine white shoes of the person in front of me and wiped my eyes, "Sorry, Harrington. I wasn't paying attention." I mumbled, keeping my head down before moving to walk around him.

   "Hey, hey, hey..." He moved in front of me, blocking my way out. I glanced up at him, hoping my eyes weren't puffy. "What's up? Or what's wrong?" He asked as he looked over my shoulder and down the hall past me.